Worcester Business Journal

www.wbjournal.com June 6, 2016 • Worcester Business Journal 15 June 9, 2016 4:30pm Mechanics Hall, Worcester VIP tickets: $150 ea. General tickets: $75 ea. NOTRE DAME HEALTH CARE Annual Educational Forum notredamehealthcare.org/forum2016 Contact Liz Parker Gagne for tickets or information: 508-852-5800, lparkergagne@notredamehealthcare.org featuring Lisa Genova author of Still Alice Proceeds benefit the Educational Bridge Center at Notre Dame Health Care JERRY PERKINS & PHIL LETVINCHUK Hatch Jennings | Harvard, MA Customer since 1985 They trusted our vision. Direct access to our Relationship Officer is what sets them apart. Our Relationship Managers and Commercial Lenders are local people who are responsive, experienced and ready to help your business succeed and grow. Please contact Ruth Cavanagh, SVP, Senior Loan Officer at (978) 772-8502 x1155 or email ruth.cavanagh@nmsb.com. nmsb.com/theirstory Visit: announced he would build the Armory Business Center, a collection of nine units at 1,867 square feet in the South Worcester Industrial Park, he did his homework and came up with a amenity list that included the items above. Size is also a big factor when it comes to the desirability of a building, said O'Brien, with anything under 6,000 square feet going extremely quickly. Rothschild said, in doing his market research, there was a huge demand for these type of buildings that allow busi- nesses like a recent startup to grow into a full-on manufacturing space. "Today, the footprint for many type of manufacturing is much smaller," Rothschild said, explaining many of these productions add something to a product and quickly move them out to the next processing point. "That's a lot of production in a small square footage." The right location It isn't just layout that draws people to the region, but it's the accessibility. According to Transwestern's director of research, Chase Bourdelaise, the Greater Boston area and New England in general are hub locations for ship- ping and manufacturing. The impor- tance of regional warehouses is also growing as ecommerce puts heightened demands on having stock on hand for quick deliveries. "Warehouse and manufacturing for sure are being driven by ecommerce. Ecommerce is growing at a rate of 20 percent a year, and they expect that ecommerce sales will account for 12 per- cent of total retail sales by 2020," Bourdelaise said. Michael Sleeper, the CEO of Worcester's Imperial Distributors, agrees with the assessment. His com- pany is having a 300,000-square-foot warehouse and office property with 40 foot ceilings built on the outskirts of Worcester at 150 Blackstone River Road. The creation of this facility became a necessity after no buildings in the region fit his needs. Due to the ease of transportation to major thoroughfares, there is easy access to Route 146 and the Mass Pike from the new location, and with his desire to remain in the Worcester area, this was the best choice for the compa- ny, he said. "Investing into the future is largely done in the facility," Sleeper said. "If you're really committed to the future, you want to be up to speed in terms of facility. It's a critical piece." Future constraints While all this activity is good for business now, it could be bad for busi- ness later, said O'Brien, who was con- cerned about suitable industrial space drying up before new properties can come online. There are not a lot of industrial projects in MetroWest. Bourdelaise said the inventory with the ceiling height and other require- ments manufacturers and shippers are looking for are actually very limited. The rental rates for industrial are bordering on justifying new construc- tion, but not quite yet, O'Brien said. n >> R E G I O N A L F O C U S: M E T R O W E S T

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